Carina CANNAGEAE-ORCHIDACEAE Burmannia 



(B.M. 291). Stout, erect, 1.5-2 m. high; fls. scarlet, often tinged blue. Introduced 

 from tropical America; locally in Ku. Planted, ornamental. 



195. BURMANNIACEAE Burmannia Family fl|jg#:$t (Ch'u Hsi Chang K'o) 

 Erect herbs with lanceolate, linear or scale-like lvs.: fls. regular, in 1-sided spikes 

 or racemes: perianth persistent, 3 or 6-lobed; anthers 3 or 6, 2-celled, sessile on the 

 perianth; ovary inferior, 3-celled or 1-celled with 3 parietal placentae: fr. a winged 

 capsule (ours); seeds numerous, minute. About 10 genera with over 50 species in 

 tropical countries; one genus and 5 species in China. 



1. Burmannia Linn. MUttM (Ch'u Hsi Chang Shu) 



Annual herbs: lvs. ensiform, linear or scale-like, mostly basal: stems simple or 



brg., Ify. bcloiv; fls. solitary or few: perianth tube winged or angled; the limb 3- 



lobed; anthers 3; ovary 3-celled; style 3-lobed : capsule winged in fr. About 20 species, 



in tropical countries; 5 in China. (Named for J. Burmann, 1706-1779, a Dutch botanist.) 



1. Burmannia coelestis D. Don Wi^'l (Ch'u Hsi Chang; Tin-bird-staff) (H.F. 5: 665). 

 Lvs. reduced upwards; fls. blue, X; fr. winged. Southeastern Asia; locally in 

 Ki. Moist meadows. 



196. ORCHIDACEAE Orchid Family flljft (Lan K'o; 

 Refined Elegance Family) 



Perennial herbs, (in our species) terrestrial, with fibrous or tuberous roots, or 

 corms, (elsewhere) often epiphytic on trees or rocks with the stems much thickened 

 and often forming a pseudobulb, or rarely saprophytic and leafless; inflorescence 

 terminal or lateral, with flowers in spikes or racemes (rarely solitary) and often 

 showy; perianth irregular, 6-parted, in 2 whorls fanalagous to calyx and corolla), 

 one member of the inner whorl, which is distinctive by reason of size, shape or markings, 

 is called the lip and is often prolonged at base into a sac or spur; stamens and style 

 united into a central organ, the column or gynostemium, opposite the lip, on which is 

 borne the usually 1-or rarely 2-celled anther bearing pollen usually in closely cohering 

 masses (pollinia); ovary inferior, 1-celled, the ovules borne on 3 parietal placentae; 

 fruit a capsule with very numerous minute seeds. 



Over 450 genera with upwards of 15,000 species, mostly in hot, warm or temperate 

 countries (most numerous in tropical regions); 85 genera with more than 280 species 

 in China. 



The descriptions for Orchidaceae have been rewritten and the keys reconstructed 

 by Charles Schweinfurth. 



The following key, with the descriptions of the genera, is based exclusively upon 

 species growing in the region of the Lower Yangtze Valley. 



Key to the Genera 

 A. Fertile anthers 2, one on either side of the column; lip pouch-shaped 



or slipper-shaped 1 • Cypripedium 



(Cypripedilum) 



AA. Fertile anther solitary, on the central axis of the column; lip (in 

 our species) never pouch-shaped. 

 B. Inflorescence terminal, racemes on a more or less leafy stem. 

 C. Lip with a distinct, usually elongate, spur at its base. 



530 



